Being part of seeding process was interesting

Wednesday

Dec 12, 2012 at 12:47 AMDec 12, 2012 at 12:48 AM

Erich Murphy's weekly Sez MEE column

Erich Murphy

A treat was bestowed on this sportswriter this past weekend. The pairings of the 82nd Pontiac Holiday Tournament were determined Sunday and the author of this piece was a part of it. It was an interesting and rather enjoyable experience to go through the process of figuring who should be placed where in the 16-team tournament, the oldest of its kind in the country. Many things were learned about the process, and it really makes sense when broken down. Unlike some tournaments, the seeding process involved more than just who is considered the best and what matchup does the board want to see in the title round. It involved game times and previous opponents and league affiliations and many more factors. The only obvious was what team was going to be the top seed. That honor — and target — went to two-time defending and 10-time champion Chicago Simeon. That was a no-brainer. With All-American Jabari Parker and Illinois signees Kendrick Nunn and Jaylon Tate, the Wolverines appear primed to become the new leader in PHT titles. What took brainwork was figuring the rest of the top four and where the rest of the field would land. Considerations included who played at what time last year, who played who in the first round and trying to keep teams from the same conference away from each other until later in the tournament. Two sportswriters from the Chicagoland area were called for input, which was helpful when it came to figuring out the city and suburban schools. In the end, the group in the PTHS learning center stuck with the seeding it had come up with before calling the Chicagoans. That meant Peoria Manual was tabbed second and was followed by Aurora West and Chicago Curie. Curie was a sticking point because the Condors had yet to win. In fact, as of the time of this writing, they are still winless. But the losses have come to national power Oak Hill Academy, a surprisingly strong Benet Academy team and highly ranked Homewood-Flossmoor. The committee felt that Curie, with 6-foot-9 junior Cliff Alexander, will be a team to beat by Dec. 27, by the tournament. Manual and Aurora West were figured to be close enough and the route each will take to the semifinals will basically be the same. They are Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Breaking down the rest of the teams was a little more difficult because so many had similar records and appeared to be even. Another factor that many do not always consider is when teams play. Tournament Director Jim Drengwitz, who has been a part of the PHT for more than 30 years, felt that it would be best for Simeon to play at 7:30 p.m. the first day. This is a time that is usually reserved for the host Indians, but not always. What made this somewhat difficult was that Pontiac is expected to play at night. On the first night that wasn’t a problem. PTHS could play the 6 p.m. game as a warm up to the Simeon game, or at 9 p.m. in an effort to keep some fans in the gym for the late game. The problem with the 6 o’clock game was a second-round contest in the afternoon on Day 2. That was not going to happen because, win or lose, it was the desire for the Tribe to play in the evening for a second time. That meant the 9 p.m. game was it. What made it easy to plan was figuring that the teams looked at as being ranked 7-12 were pretty even, at least enough to be able to mix and match accordingly. So, Pontiac gets Bloomington in the late game in what people may see as the 8 and 9 seeds — BHS would be the 8 — because the winner will run into No. 1 in the quarterfinals. It is believed by this person that the evening session could be quite entertaining. It will open with No. 4 Curie against Plainfield North. If there is an upset to take place among the top four teams, this appears to be the game where it will happen. Simeon speaks for itself. The place should be packed to see the Wolverines. And then Pontiac against Bloomington could be quite the interesting contest between neighbors. It can be a blowout or it can go down to the wire. The games earlier in the day should also be pretty good with three of the five seemingly being tossups. And even Lockport and No. 3 Aurora West could be closer than people think. It should be another enjoyable and entertaining tournament. If you’re a basketball fan, you don’t want to miss it.